Chapter 25

The second week after National Day, Yanwen Academy’s annual Sports Festival kicked off in full swing, the festive energy still lingering from the holiday.
Every year, the middle and high school divisions took the lead, while the elementary students mostly joined for fun.
For the seniors, this was their last break before the college entrance exam in June, one final chance to relax before the grueling months of preparation ahead.
Yan Xiao sat in the stands wearing a wide-brimmed sun hat, gripping her water bottle tightly as she watched the senior boys’ basketball finals, fierce, fast, and on the verge of turning into an all-out brawl.
“Qiu Li!” “Go, go!”
“Qiu Li!” “You got this!”
The unified cheering rang out again and again, so loud and relentless that it made her unclench her fists in defeat.
Forget it, she thought. There were so many people yelling his name that even if she shouted, he wouldn’t hear her, and if he did, what if her voice distracted him and he missed a shot? If the team lost because of her, she’d feel terrible!
So she sat back down.
But half her view was blocked by a crowd of squealing girls, jumping and waving glow sticks like they were at a concert. With a sigh, she crouched down and squeezed her way out of the mob until she reached the front aisle.
A student council member was stationed there to maintain order. He started to scold automatically: “Student, please stay back, don’t”
Then he saw her face and froze mid-sentence. “Ah, Senior Yan Xiao! Over here, this way, there’s a seat in front, better view, not crowded!”
Yan Xiao hadn’t intended to get close to the court; she’d only escaped the chaos to avoid being hit by flower petals. But since the poor boy looked so eager to help, she nodded politely and walked where he pointed.
Settling into her seat, she looked up, and immediately frowned.
Out there on the court, under the golden sunlight, Qiu Li moved like the spotlight followed him. Every motion drew eyes: sharp, effortless, dazzling.
Her little villain had grown into a full-blown big villain, smooth, confident, dangerously composed.
And she hadn’t earned a single point in an entire year!
Just thinking about it made her want to explode.
Yanwen’s Gifted Class didn’t follow the same curriculum as the regular classes. Their pace was accelerated and their structure completely different. Roughly speaking, their elementary program only lasted four years, and the secondary one four to five years, depending on whether students chose early admission through special recruitment or stayed for the college entrance exam.
Yan Xiao, though in the International Class, studied on the same pace as the regular classes. To keep up with Qiu Li, and stay in the same school year for easier “point farming”, she’d skipped three grades in total.
Two in elementary school: from first grade straight to third, then from third to fifth.
Not all of that was for Qiu Li, the lower-grade classes were simply too easy.
Then in middle school, she’d skipped another grade, completing three years’ worth of work in two.
She’d wanted to skip again for high school, but her parents flatly refused. Even her aunt sided with them.
She’d been furious. With Qiu Li’s record, always ranking first, no matter how big or small the exam, he’d definitely be one of those students recruited early in his second year. If she didn’t skip ahead, how was she supposed to keep up?!
No matter how much she argued, though, her parents didn’t budge. “You’re still too young,” they said. “High school is important. You need a solid foundation.”
She’d sulked for days, until she learned that Qiu Li hadn’t joined the early admissions program after all, but was planning to take the college entrance exam.
That had made her very happy.
Zhou Hang told her that Qiu Li wanted to become the national top scorer, though to Zhou Hang, that goal was just another day’s work for him.
But to Yan Xiao, it meant something else.
If he wanted to be the top scorer…what if she became one instead?
Wouldn’t her point counter explode?
From that day on, she studied even harder. She’d always been diligent, but now her goal was crystal clear: beat Qiu Li, just once.
She’d even said it to his face before.
Even now, in her final year of high school, she hadn’t given up.
She might not have the same raw IQ as the Gifted Class, but she was smart, determined, and stubborn. There were only so many things tested in the college entrance exam, she refused to believe she couldn’t surpass him at least once.
When it came to academics, Yan Xiao had long accepted that she’d probably never surpass him.
But the points, the cursed, unmoving points, those were driving her insane.
Her ideal plan had been simple: five years, six at most, seven if things went really wrong, she’d collect all the required points and finally go home.
Yet now it had been eight years, and she’d only reached 860 points.
And that number hadn’t moved in an entire year.
She was desperate, frustrated and going bald from stress.
No matter what she did, how hard she tried, how recklessly she behaved, the score simply refused to rise.
For a while, she’d gotten so anxious she acted out, loud and defiant, stirring trouble just to get a reaction. But Qiu Li hadn’t even blinked.
He’d simply pulled out a test paper and calmly said he’d tutor her.
That provocation had left her fuming in silence for three days.
After nearly a year of futile efforts, the fire had dulled.
Well, she was only thirteen.
Five years until eighteen, surely she could scrape together the remaining 139 points by then.
So she clenched her fists, jaw set, and silently cheered herself on.
She would beat Qiu Li in the college entrance exam. She’d take the top scorer title herself!
“Ahhhh”
“Ahhhhhh”
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
A shrill chorus of screams nearly made her jump out of her seat.
Startled, she instinctively looked toward the court.
And of course.
Qiu Li had just stolen the ball, and scored again.
She looked at him, that tall, gleaming figure hanging from the rim, drenched in light and sweat, and bit her lip hard.
Out on the court, amid the deafening cheers, Qiu Li barely had time to wipe his face before glancing up at the stands, right toward where Yan Xiao had been standing.
But she was gone.
His expression shifted instantly, and the air around him seemed to drop several degrees.
The center, who’d been thrilled over the goal, smacked his shoulder excitedly. “Nice shot!”
Qiu Li turned his gaze on him, icy and sharp, and the boy froze mid-smile, shivering. By the time he realized what he’d done, Qiu Li had already jogged away, wiping sweat from his face, radiating frost.
Idiot, the boy thought, I forgot he hates being touched. They’d been classmates for years, he should’ve known better.
“Whoa, Number One! Do you have to look that good?!” Zhou Hang hopped over like an overexcited grasshopper. “Leave us mortals a little dignity, will you? All the girls are screaming your name! No one’s cheering for me! Pass me the ball next time, I wanna score too! I haven’t made a single basket since the game started”
He babbled for half a minute straight, but Qiu Li didn’t even glance at him.
Zhou Hang trailed off, followed his line of sight, and blinked. “What are you looking at?”
Qiu Li’s brows furrowed slightly.
Now, Zhou Hang might not be good at basketball, but his social radar and observational skills were legendary.
“There! There she is!” Zhou Hang nudged him with his elbow, grinning. “Right there! What are you staring at the other way for? You can shoot straight, but you can’t see straight? Your ‘deep, soulful eyes’ that all the girls worship, what a waste! My little eyes are way more useful, tsk tsk…”
Once he started, he couldn’t stop.
If sarcasm were a sport, Zhou Hang would’ve been Yanwen’s undisputed champion.
Unfortunately, sarcasm wasn’t what made him famous, it was his suicidal tendency to constantly mess with the school’s resident iceberg, Qiu Li.
And somehow, every time, he survived.
Maybe Heaven pitied him.
Finally spotting Yan Xiao sitting by the court, Qiu Li’s frosty aura melted away like ice in the sun.
He smiled, the kind that made hearts skip, and lifted his hand to wave at her.
Under the bright sunlight, his tall figure stood out even more, his once-cold features now sharpened and refined with age. Maybe it was the “academic god” aura, but there was far more energy and warmth in him now than the brooding gloom he’d carried as a child.
Especially here, sweat glinting under the sun, he was the very picture of youth itself.
“Ahhhh!”
“So handsome!”
“Qiu Li! Qiu Li! Qiu Li!”
The stands went absolutely feral.
Yan Xiao frowned slightly. She understood, teenage girls were full of energy, easily dazzled by a boy who looked good, played well, and aced his exams, but still.
All that over a wave?
It wasn’t like he’d performed some earth-shattering pose!
“Did Qiu Li just wave at us?”
“Totally! It was at us!”
“We were cheering the loudest!”
As the girls around her argued over who he’d waved to, Yan Xiao pressed her lips together.
She wanted so badly to tell them, Ladies, please, he wasn’t waving at you. He was showing off to me.
Qiu Li never joined school events, not performances, not sports.
A year ago, after she’d stopped earning points, she’d lost her patience and taunted him out of sheer boredom, saying he was nothing but a study robot with zero athletic talent, that a truly well-rounded student should excel in moral, intellectual, physical, and artistic development.
And so, he’d signed up.
It was his first time ever participating in a sports festival.
Not only had Yanwen gone wild, even girls from neighboring schools had shown up just to watch him play.
Yan Xiao had assumed, since she’d never seen him play anything before, that he’d at least make a fool of himself, maybe not embarrassingly, but certainly not impressively.
She could hardly wait to mock him when he failed.
But the reality? Far beyond her expectations.
Watching him dominate the court, every move sharp, effortless, magnetic, she ground her teeth.
Big villain. Big schemer.
Hiding your skills all this time!
And every time he scored, he just had to glance her way, taunting her silently.
Still so petty, even in senior year!
“Hey, hey…” Zhou Hang jabbed him with his elbow again.
Once he confirmed Yan Xiao was watching, Qiu Li withdrew his gaze and jogged off, irritation flickering as he put distance between himself and Zhou Hang.
Since his goal hadn’t been achieved, Zhou Hang of course had to chase after him.
Qiu Li glanced at him coldly. “Follow me again, and you’ll never touch the ball.”
Which, to Zhou Hang, was basically a disguised yes.
Beaming, he happily bounced away.
And under Qiu Li’s precise passes and unyielding defense, Zhou Hang finally scored his first point of the entire autumn sports festival.
He was as thrilled as a monkey who’d just stolen a peach, leaping up to pounce on Qiu Li, only to be stopped dead by one icy glare.
When the great Iceberg God got serious, even his own teammates didn’t dare breathe too loudly. Zhou Hang froze midair, then redirected his hug to the nearest opposing forward instead, leaving the poor guy completely dumbfounded.
After Qiu Li sank another three-pointer, Class 3 called for a time-out.
The bleachers were packed to the brim, and amid the deafening cheers, Qiu Li jogged straight toward where Yan Xiao was sitting.
The moment the referee’s whistle blew, Yan Xiao had already stood up.
She was just about to mock him, maybe twist things around to hit him where it hurt, when he suddenly smiled at her.
And just like that, her mind blanked.
He was already unfairly good-looking, but standing there against the light, victory glowing all over him, his smile was devastating.
Before she could recover, he reached out and ruffled the top of her head.
“Ahhh!”
“AHHHHHH!”
“AHHHHHHHHH!!”
“THE HEAD PAT!! I’M DEAD AHHHHHH!!”
The stands erupted in shrieks loud enough to split the sky.
Yan Xiao: “…”